Capping the Loop

[AlkaliAxel]

So do we think we could food trucks almost every day at this park? I envision it like how they do that with the food trucks at the Mall in DC.

[Cratedigger]

So do we think we could food trucks almost every day at this park? I envision it like how they do that with the food trucks at the Mall in DC.

Lunch option for workers in the CBD/crossroads?

[DColeKC]

Sure you could have food trucks on a regular basis, bigger question is will downtown workers support it? I doubt it as they don't support the already existing options for lunch during the week. H&R basically begs their employees to stay inside the building and besides Chipotle and Johnny's Tavern, lunch bizz is hard downtown.

[AlkaliAxel]

If more than half of people are working from home, could we not just rely on remote workers downtown?

[KCPowercat]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

[AlkaliAxel]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

*snickers*

Also I was really thinking more about the evening..when people are home..dinner, walkers, etc.

[dukuboy1]

Sure you could have food trucks on a regular basis, bigger question is will downtown workers support it? I doubt it as they don't support the already existing options for lunch during the week. H&R basically begs their employees to stay inside the building and besides Chipotle and Johnny's Tavern, lunch bizz is hard downtown.

curious as to why they ask this of their employees? Is it a COVID thing? Do they have a corporate kitchen they are trying to keep in business? I work at Commerce and I know before the pandemic or employees would go out to eat. We have a corporate kitchen in the building at 811 Main that we could use, as well as other companies in that same building.

Hopefully more and more people will return to the office and help these businesses stay open.

As for the food trucks I like the idea and I think they would do well. Perhaps it starts as a FRI-SUN thing at first but as more convention traffic picks up and weekend events, etc. I can see the food trucks being a fun sport for people from out of town. Something unique to the city would be great.

[Cratedigger]

For the record on food trucks, these days in Dallas, Klyde Warren has 2 or 3 food trucks at lunch during the weekdays and 5 or so on the weekends

[dukuboy1]

Times have changed. One can smoke weed legally in public, and not smoke cigarettes in most places now. I flew to Paris once on a red-eye Air France 747 widebody and it seemed every passenger on the airplane was chain-smoking the entire flight--and drinking. It was like being in a disco at 10,000 feet. I don't recall there was a non-smoking section of the airplane, and it wouldn't have mattered much anyway because the entire cabin had the aura of a 1920s jazz club.

Regardless of where you can & can’t smoke it in public, if it’s widespread smoking at the park, very few people will go. There’s still be a huge swath that supports legalization but don’t wanna smell it.

well, in general, smoking in any form, tobacco, weed, vapes, etc. is just gross. Smells terrible and causes really bad health issues. I have no issue with marijuana usage, if that is your thing. I'd say look to promote edibles more where you can. I know I have enjoyed them over the years when I needed a fix. I also understand each to their own but smoking weed should be no different than smoking tobacco, only allowed in outdoor spaces but again I would encourage more alternative forms of ingesting it and imbibing in its pleasures.

[Cratedigger]

For the record on food trucks, these days in Dallas, Klyde Warren has 2 or 3 food trucks at lunch during the weekdays and 5 or so on the weekends

On this note, I have no idea how food trucks work. If a food truck just wants to set up at a park can they do that? Are there permits they need to get before they can set up shop at the park on a given day? Would the programmer of the park organize in advance which trucks will be there on different days?

[FangKC]

Times have changed. One can smoke weed legally in public, and not smoke cigarettes in most places now. I flew to Paris once on a red-eye Air France 747 widebody and it seemed every passenger on the airplane was chain-smoking the entire flight--and drinking. It was like being in a disco at 10,000 feet. I don't recall there was a non-smoking section of the airplane, and it wouldn't have mattered much anyway because the entire cabin had the aura of a 1920s jazz club.

Regardless of where you can & can’t smoke it in public, if it’s widespread smoking at the park, very few people will go. There’s still be a huge swath that supports legalization but don’t wanna smell it.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cc5a_0sFn2 ... _copy_link

[shinatoo]

There are always about 4 food trucks at the Gene Leahy Mall in Omaha. Omaha has a much more active downtown worker presence but KC is getting there. I would suspect we could sustain a taco truck, hot dog truck, and at least one ethnic food truck on the loop cap by the time it gets built.

[DColeKC]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

The events and visitors drive revenue for most of the restaurants downtown. Lunch business has always been terrible with the exception of a few locations as mentioned.

We need several thousand more people working downtown to make it possible to have more options open during the lunch hour.

[Cratedigger]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

The events and visitors drive revenue for most of the restaurants downtown. Lunch business has always been terrible with the exception of a few locations as mentioned.

We need several thousand more people working downtown to make it possible to have more options open during the lunch hour.

Fair enough. Have to imagine this park would be a destination and draw that exact crowd though

[DColeKC]

Sure you could have food trucks on a regular basis, bigger question is will downtown workers support it? I doubt it as they don't support the already existing options for lunch during the week. H&R basically begs their employees to stay inside the building and besides Chipotle and Johnny's Tavern, lunch bizz is hard downtown.

curious as to why they ask this of their employees? Is it a COVID thing? Do they have a corporate kitchen they are trying to keep in business? I work at Commerce and I know before the pandemic or employees would go out to eat. We have a corporate kitchen in the building at 811 Main that we could use, as well as other companies in that same building.

Hopefully more and more people will return to the office and help these businesses stay open.

As for the food trucks I like the idea and I think they would do well. Perhaps it starts as a FRI-SUN thing at first but as more convention traffic picks up and weekend events, etc. I can see the food trucks being a fun sport for people from out of town. Something unique to the city would be great.

Yes, they have options inside the building which is a great amenity for those employees. It’s just not good for business downtown. H&R is not a good neighbor to the downtown community. Difficult to work with and they don’t participate in anything. So it’s likely this will never change.

[KCPowercat]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

The events and visitors drive revenue for most of the restaurants downtown. Lunch business has always been terrible with the exception of a few locations as mentioned.

We need several thousand more people working downtown to make it possible to have more options open during the lunch hour.

Again I'm not sure to the scope you are referring. Just P&L or downtown at large? All of my lunch places that were open pre pandemic are still open and doing well by their reports. These are tourists or event goers eating there.

[DColeKC]

If downtown workers didn't support existing options then they wouldn't be open? Or is this a comment that's only related to the Cordish kingdom?

The events and visitors drive revenue for most of the restaurants downtown. Lunch business has always been terrible with the exception of a few locations as mentioned.

We need several thousand more people working downtown to make it possible to have more options open during the lunch hour.

Again I'm not sure to the scope you are referring. Just P&L or downtown at large? All of my lunch places that were open pre pandemic are still open and doing well by their reports. These are tourists or event goers eating there.

Of course I don't have financial information or even anecdotal evidence to make a claim about all of downtown, but considering PNL is a very large swath and sample, I bet it's safe to assume it extrapolates across all of downtown.

What places are you referring to? According to what reports?

[AlkaliAxel]

I feel like the cap park will be popular enough to draw its own crowds for daily food trucks. And there are other factors people aren't considering, like taking the streetcar on a Tuesday night to go down there from the Plaza to grab a bite & walk around at the park. More residential being built up. Royals stadium can draw as well.

[KCPowercat]

The events and visitors drive revenue for most of the restaurants downtown. Lunch business has always been terrible with the exception of a few locations as mentioned.

We need several thousand more people working downtown to make it possible to have more options open during the lunch hour.

Again I'm not sure to the scope you are referring. Just P&L or downtown at large? All of my lunch places that were open pre pandemic are still open and doing well by their reports. These are tourists or event goers eating there.

Of course I don't have financial information or even anecdotal evidence to make a claim about all of downtown, but considering PNL is a very large swath and sample, I bet it's safe to assume it extrapolates across all of downtown.

What places are you referring to? According to what reports?

Them telling me they are doing well. The fact they are open. I don't think extrapolating P&L lunch business to all of downtown is that representative. What does P&L even have for a quick service lunch place except Chipotle? That is the "food truck" crowd.

[DColeKC]

Again I'm not sure to the scope you are referring. Just P&L or downtown at large? All of my lunch places that were open pre pandemic are still open and doing well by their reports. These are tourists or event goers eating there.

Of course I don't have financial information or even anecdotal evidence to make a claim about all of downtown, but considering PNL is a very large swath and sample, I bet it's safe to assume it extrapolates across all of downtown.

What places are you referring to? According to what reports?

Them telling me they are doing well. The fact they are open. I don't think extrapolating P&L lunch business to all of downtown is that representative. What does P&L even have for a quick service lunch place except Chipotle? That is the "food truck" crowd.

The fact they're open for lunch doesn't mean they're doing good lunch bizz. Considering how centrally located PNL is and the fact a world headquarters for a multi-billion dollar company resides within it, I can't imagine the data differs from all of downtown.

Still wondering what places specifically you're referring to? What quick service options do you frequent? Very few actual quick service options downtown overall.

The owner of The Mixx wants to open back up but she's not sure she'll get the lunch bizz and she has a decade of data to work with.

All I'm saying is we're not at a great point to bring in MORE options when the current ones struggle. Hopefully as mentioned, we are in a much better place by the time this park opens up.